GROSSE ILE — The Flat Rock girls basketball teams has one of the more unique rosters in the entire Downriver area.
Headlined by former three-time all-News-Herald honoree Madleen Hussein, Flat Rock also carries one of the more dominant post presences in Lily Klein. Talented but also injury-prone during her career, Klein provides the Rams another layer to the team’s offense.“I think she’s hard to match up with,” Flat Rock head coach Brian Kryk said of Klein. “When Madleen feels that pressure, she is going to get rid of it. I think when Lily feels pressure, her best option is to just shoot. She has the benefit of being closer to the basket.
“She’s still getting used to it,” Kryk added. “We’re still trying to get her back into the regular rotation on a daily basis.”
In perhaps her biggest game of the season thus far, Klein helped Flat Rock put together a strong second half to pull away for a 48-37 road win over Huron League rival Grosse Ile on Monday night.
On a day where Hussein had a quiet night for her standards, the Rams used Klein’s size and athleticism to their advantage, which Kryk says was a point of emphasis for his team at halftime.
“I thought we were kind of shooting ourselves in the foot early,” Kryk said. “We knew there was going to be a lot of pressure on the ball. (Grosse Ile) was going to bring it, and it was smart of them to do that.
“We talked about settling down and making one little tweak with getting the ball more in the middle.”
Klein certainly asserted herself early on, scoring 10 of her game-high 16 points in the first half. Still, Flat Rock only maintained a slim 20-16 edge over Grosse Ile. It was a first half where the Rams led by as many as eight in the first quarter before seeing the Red Devils work their way back and even briefly take the lead.
Then came the second half, where Klein was not as much of a scoring threat, however her early damage and mere presence alone allowed Flat Rock to open things up.
That was a big concern on the part of Grosse Ile head coach James Frost.
“She’s the tallest girl in the league,” Frost said of Klein. “Coming off her injuries, she’s not even at full strength yet. Can’t wait to see when she is. But yeah, you put her on the block and throw two, even three girls at her. Then that leaves other girls open for shots.”
Those open shots finally started to fall for the visitors, who exploded for 20 points in the third, a dozen of which came on four three-pointers. It turned a four-point halftime head into a 15-point cushion going into the fourth.
The islanders did, however, end on a high note. After trailing by as many as 22 early in the fourth, they used the three ball of their own to close the game out with 13 unanswered points.
It’s an encouraging finish for Frost, who sees his team’s three-game win streak snapped with the loss.
“We let (Flat Rock) get their threes going a bit, and (Klein) kept scoring,” Frost said. “We definitely didn’t come out as strongly as we should have. But I thought our kids played hard, it was a really good effort.”
In addition to the effort from Klein, the aforementioned senior Hussein finished with 12 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Flat Rock also nine points on three made triples from another senior in Layla Holbrook.
Grosse Ile on Monday saw nine different players score, led by eight points from junior Ava Deakin. A Devils team that features more underclassmen than seniors, Frost says there has been considerable growth from the start of the season to now.
“We got to play 10 girls tonight,” Frost said. “I can start a variety of girls on any given day, and I can go to my bench and there is no drop-off.
“I think it’s just the maturity level,” Frost added. “We understand we lost but we can hang our heads high knowing we gave it all we could. We’re a younger team, whereas (Flat Rock) has players who have been on varsity for a lot of years, but we’ll get there.”
UP NEXT
Monday kick-started a four-game road trip for Flat Rock (4-3, 2-1 Huron League), who will visit Monroe for a non-league game on Thursday, Jan 14 before turning around and traveling to league foe Milan a day later.
The Monroe matchup aside, it’s a predominantly a conference slate of games the rest of the way for both teams, something Kryk is looking forward to.
“We’re going to blink and we’ll be at our banquet at the end of the year,” Krky said. “But it’s good to start getting back into our league games. They know we’re in the heart of the season. Every free throw, every turnover, every layup — all of those things can have an impact on everything come late February.”
Grosse Ile (3-4, 1-2 Huron League) faces a tough test at Carleton Airport on Jan 15 to finish up their week. The Red Devils will then begin a three-game homestand when they welcome in local foe Taylor for a non-league battle on Jan 19.
Photo gallery of Flat Rock vs Grosse Ile in a Huron League girls basketball matchup
